Duck eggs under a duck

[lucycrawford]

I have tried using a cheap incubator (Covatutto) but no success - just candled them after first week and nothing doing. Will try again but thought I would also try encouraging one of my ducks to sit on a clutch of eggs. My ducks are kaki cambells which are not supposed to be good mothers - what are my chances? I only need 2 hens and a drake by the end of the season so don't want to spend lots on an incubator.

Does anyone have any advice? The ducks are in a shed and I can separate her nest box from the others and provide her with food and water. However, what should I do while she is building up her clutch - should she be allowed access to the drake or does the sperm stay viable for a while? Should I confine her or wait for her to sit of her own accord? We will need to collect eggs from the other ducks in the other half of the same shed - will that disturb her into abandoning her nest?

Lucy

[littlefeathers]

Hi lucy, i cant help with the advice, but i also have a covatutto (6), and running it per manual, with 2 water pots filled, 1 week later four out of four eggs were fertile, we are now at the hatching stage (week 4) and so far all are alive thou my only concern is getting the humidity right .... which is causing me some worry as im getting 2 different readings.

So maybe your little covatutto is ok maybe the eggs werent fertile to start..... its just a thought .

[duckmad]

hi lucy
khakis are not the best of sitters, how long have the ducks been in lay as the first eggs of the season wont be fertile anyway. I would give it a go for another week. Is the temp in the incubator right, is it fan assisted or still air.
Fan assisted should be 37.2 to 37.5
Still air should be 38.5 to 39
Did you put water in or not.
We dont put water in ours until hatching and then flood the hatcher.
If you want to hatch them under something i would try and get a good broody hen, bantams make excellent mothers and would quite happily hatch ducks. Collect the eggs and put them under her when there are enough to sit on, it should always be an odd number and not too many so that she cant cover them as as she rotates them she will put so many out from under her that you cold lose the lot to cold.
If you want to try a duck take the eggs from under her but put some china eggs in their place until she sits and then replace with the good eggs when she is sitting tight
Hope this helps, give the incubator another go. I know its depressing but we have over 300 eggs in incubators at the moment and are still throwing some breeds out every week as they just arent fertile yet.
Once khakis are fertile they will hatch like nine pins
duckmad